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A while back, we wrote a post focusing on four ways to acquire and retain millennial donors. In order to provide the best advice we could, we drew from many of the best practices we had learned over the past two years, organizing our annual fundraising event in Boston, the Boston Fall Formal.

Our fundraiser is geared almost completely toward millennial donors, and has donated over $175,000 to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in two years!

To help you and your team with your next fundraising endeavor, we thought we’d expand a bit on our fundraising experience, and provide you with detailed information on how we improved our contribution each year, while still keeping our donors engaged. To help guide our conversation, we’ve answered questions from a fellow fundraising host (thanks, Elsa!).

Q: How much of your total proceeds from the two years (about $175,000) came from ticket sales versus pure donations versus opportunity drawing proceeds?

A: This is a great question, and brings up an important point to keep in mind as you plan your next fundraising event. Depending on the type of event you hold, different cost components could include:

Venue Cost

Food / Drink Cost (higher cost for open bar)

Entertainment (band, DJ, photographer, photobooth, etc.)

Décor

Ticketing Processing Fees

When planning your event, it’s always good to have a detailed estimate of the costs you will incur. This level of detail will give you a better idea of what your final contribution to your charity will be and will also help you understand what you can afford for your event.

For our event, revenue broke down as follows:

Revenue Item

Dollar Amount

Percent of Total Revenue

Ticket Sales

$185,000

67%

Sponsorship / Donations

$72,000

26%

Opportunity Drawing Proceeds

$20,000

7%

You’ll see that our revenue was well over our total proceeds of $175,000, meaning we incurred about $117,000 in costs over the past two years of our event!

Q: What was the breakdown among corporate sponsorships and pure donations?

A: As with costs, we find it to be extremely beneficial to track all of your sponsorship and donation amounts.

Surprisingly, we did not solicit sponsors in the first year of our event, meaning all of our proceeds from donations were from individuals, not corporate sponsors. While we considered the inaugural event to be a success, we clearly had a lot to learn.

Using this lesson from our first event, we put a lot more effort into attracting and winning amazing sponsors. (You view our Ultimate Guide to Sponsorship here!)

Shifting our efforts resulted in a much different breakdown than in our first year, and as a result, sponsorship and individual donations were at about a 50:50 split – a huge improvement from our prior year!

Q: What was your retention rate from year one to year two?

A: Our high retention rate played a significant role in the growth of our event. While we were very happy with the new attendees we attracted in year two, the return attendees helped spread the word on the event, and continue to drive awareness up until the night of the event.

Comparing year two to year one, we retained about 58% of our initial attendees!

More to come on our tips for engaging these attendees, further down in this post.

Q: Do you have any thoughts on engaging millennials as straight donors instead of as event attendees? Fundraising events can be expensive – are they truly necessary to engage millennials in order to garner donations from them?

A: While it is definitely possible to generate straight donations from millennials, we’ve found that the key to acquiring and retaining millennial donors is to provide engaging and unique experiences. Millennials constantly seek connections to the causes they support, and one of the best ways to create this connection is by building a relationship / experience through a special event.

Some of our additional thoughts on engaging and retaining millennial donors include:

Get Personal – Tell the story of your cause, and how it has personally affected yourself and your committee.

Utilize Technology – Millennials are very connected. In order to gain their donations, you must be, too! For your next fundraiser, be sure to embrace mobile technology through donation pages, mobile silent auctions and raffles, and even email campaigns.

Embrace FOMO – Play into millennials’ fear of missing a great time. Promoting your event through social media, videos, and other digital media will cause those in your audience to fear that they will be missing a great time, further convincing them to engage with your event and support your cause.

Show Your Appreciation – This is a staple for all nonprofits and fundraising events. Don’t forget to thank your attendees and donors for their contributions – this is their hard-earned money that you are asking for, after all!

Finally, while we do think that fundraising events are one of the best ways to engage millennial donors, this does not mean that you need each attendee to join your event each year. By putting together thoughtful email campaigns, social media updates, and utilizing mobile technology, you can keep your initial attendees engaged, even if they may not attend your event, or if you’re not planning on holding one each year.

Email Campaigns & Social Media Updates – Both of these tools are great ways to update your audience. We use these mostly to:

Update donors on progress made from our fundraising event.

Provide any updates that the organization or cause you support has made.

Thank your donors and attendees for their support.

Mobile Technology – Mobile technology allows you to reach your donors throughout the year, regardless of their geographic location or the timing of your event. With tools such as donation pages and mobile silent auctions and raffles, you can promote your cause or organization anytime throughout the year, and can reach a large potential donor base of people who may not be able to attend your physical event.

These elements combine to create a connected approach to fundraising that will keep your donors in the loop and donating year after year.

Conclusion

After reading this post, we hope you have a more detailed view into the numbers behind running a fundraising event. We’d love to answer some more questions, so ask yours in the comments section below!

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Written by Zach Hagopian

Zach is the co-founder and COO of Accelevents, a mobile fundraising platform that enhances silent auctions and raffles through online and text-message bidding. An active member in the Boston fundraising scene, Zach focuses on improving traditional fundraising methods and increasing fundraiser proceeds.

Don’t you want all of your corporate donors to feel like that? They can! Here’s how:

STEP 1: Get to know THEM: The first step is to really learn about the company you want to work with. Go on their website, read how they talk about themselves. What services are they selling? What language do they use? Watch some commercials and look at some advertisements for the company and really get a sense of their brand.

When you have your discovery meetings, ask lots of questions – and listen really well. Don’t run through a sales pitch before you’ve really gotten to know the company. Key things I need to know about a potential corporate donor are:

What are their biggest challenges today? What do they think they will be tomorrow?

What are their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goals and objectives?

What have they liked about past non-profit partnerships? What has worked well? What hasn’t?

What makes their company unique? Why do their customers choose them over their competitors?

STEP 2: Look for Return on Investment (ROI): Once you understand a company, look for areas where your goals and objectives overlap – and build partnerships based on those shared values, beliefs and objectives. Find creative ways to add value to a company through your partnership, by: helping them find new customers, engage employees, build a stronger brand – or more. Always keep in mind what is the ROI for the company you are working with – not just what’s in it for you. A partnership with the right charity can add value for the company by:

Helping them find new customers: 94% of people would switch from one brand to another if it was associated with a good cause

Engaging and retaining employees: 70% of people say making a difference in a good cause is a factor in where they choose to work

Building brand: associating a company with a good cause can improve their reputation and regard in the marketplace

STEP 3: Make a donor-focused pitch: In your proposal, talk about THEM. Restate what you’ve learned about their CSR objectives and business needs, and clearly explain how the program you’ve identified matches their interests and helps THEM achieve their business objectives. Too often charities make pitches based on their cause and their organization. Focus more on the opportunity of the partnership – and less on your need for money.

Do you want your corporate donors to LOVE the proposals you prepare for them?

More importantly, do you want your corporate asks to be successful?!

If you want to learn how to createbetter – more successful – more profitable corporate proposals then sign up for this webinar today! Only $24.99 CAD!

Drawing from her experience in major and corporate giving Rory Green will look at how charities can do a better job of corporate fundraising – and how to engage in deeper, more meaningful, more PROFITABLE corporate partnerships.

This webinar will use real life case studies, and give you the practical information you need to improve your corporate fundraising efforts!

You will learn:

How to identify the RIGHT companies to build a relationship with

Rory’s list of questions you NEED to ask before you write a proposal

Creative ways to offer Return on Investment that Corporate Partners will LOVE

How to tap into budgets beyond Community Engagement to unlock MAXIMUM investment

Step by step instructions on how to structure a SUCCESSFUL corporate ask

Sign up NOW and you will also get a REAL LIFE corporate proposal that got a “yes” in a day!

Trust us, you do NOT miss this webinar. Sign up now – seats are limited!

Can’t make the webinar live? No problem! Sign up now and receive a recording after the webinar is over, to watch whenever you like!

Rory is a Senior Development Officer by day, and FundraiserGrrl by night. As a major gifts fundraiser, she connects donors with an opportunity to invest in a better future. FundraiserGrrrl is a blog about her cheeky observations about life in fundraising.

One of the big lessons learned in #whatgiveswednesday so far is: involve young people in your cause. As Sheena Greer told us, “We are going to give our time first and our money second.”

Does that mean that millennials are rushing to volunteer for us and soon after giving us money? No! So, how do you get them to give their time?

Here are five ideas I came up with:

Find your young champions. Chances are you’ve got at least one young person involved with your organization. Take her out for coffee. Ask her why she cares. Ask her what involvement gets her most excited about your org. Ask her if she can bring some friends the next time she’s volunteering!

Create a young council / board / focus group / whatever. Sarah Kathryn Coley created a GOLD (Grads Of the Last Decade) Council at the university where she works. Sarah Kathryn says, “These volunteers are eager to help with peer-to-peer solicitations and educating young grads on how to get involved in the life of the university.” Like Carolyn Hawthorn told us, millennials don’t want to hear from your organization, they want to hear from their friends.

Have volunteer opportunities. Before you try to get any young people on board with your organization, are there opportunities to be involved? Can they plan an event or do some meaningful work for you? If so, you better…

Make volunteering fun! Sheena told us that volunteer experiences should be moving, fun, and highly social. I’m a big fan of Students Offering Support (not just because it was founded by a Laurier grad). SOS has chapters at different universities and students pay a nominal fee to participate in an “Exam-AID” group review session, getting support from senior students (volunteers) in advance of their exams. The money raised is spent creating sustainable education projects in developing nations. Everyone wins! You connect with peers, benefit from the experience yourself, and impact others. Wouldn’t you want to be involved in that? (And make sure there’s a hashtag. Everyone loves hashtags!)

Hold an event. It sounds cliché, but it works. The Canadian Opera Company has Operanation and the Royal Ontario Museum has Friday Night Live. In both cases, young people buy tickets to go to a fun party (with hashtags!) that make people think, “This organization is cool!” These are big events by big organizations, but you can replicate this coolness (because seriously, cool matters) for your organization! I worked at a small independent school before Laurier, and we used to hold young alumni pub nights. Wings, nachos, and a free drink ticket goes a long way! I used to make a lot of friends among the young alumni when I was the one with the drink tickets. Building those relationships had huge value, and I saw the money come in from those engaged young alumni later. It works!

What awesome ways have you involved young people in your organization? Share in the comments.

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Written by Maeve Strathy

Maeve is the Founder of What Gives Philanthropy and has been working in educational fundraising for the past eight years. Click here to learn more about Maeve.

I know I’ve spoken about being an introvert before. This is not a weakness of mine nor is it an area for improvement, but in a world dominated by extroversion, you do have to make a concerted effort as an introvert to determine your approach. Case in point: prospect management in a cocktail party setting.

In my role at Laurier, I am a prospect manager. I now have my own portfolio of prospects to cultivate, solicit, and steward. This occasionally involves a cocktail party-format donor appreciation event, one of which took place this past Tuesday.

Now, I wouldn’t say these kinds of events aren’t natural for me, nor would I say I find them difficult… I’d just say I find them draining. I might even say I find them very draining. So for a person who’s trying to strategically use their energy in that kind of event, what should the approach be???

Make a plan: One thing that helps me in these situations is making a plan in advance. I figure out how many prospects I have attending and write their names down on a list that I can reference throughout the event. On Tuesday I had 4 prospects who RSVP’d yes, so I wrote down their names and planned to connect with all of them.

Adjust the plan: Does everyone who RSVPs to an event show up? Never. On Tuesday I hovered near the nametag table a few times to see if my 4 prospects had shown up. In the end, only 3 of them had. I adjusted my list and now planned to connect with my 3 prospects throughout the evening.

Take breaks: I can mingle pretty decently, but as I’ve said, it takes a lot out of me. In order to survive the cocktail party, I need breaks. On Tuesday there was a room where the staff had put their coats and things, so 3 or so times during the event I escaped to the room to check my notes, take a breath, take a break, and then head back into the fray.

Quality over quantity: With 3 prospects at the event there was nothing stopping me from meaningfully connecting with them all, but that doesn’t mean I could expect a lengthy conversation with all of them, nor did I necessarily have the stamina for it. My mantra for cocktail parties has become quality over quantity. Small talk and glad-handing takes a lot out of me, so I try to find an opportunity for a meaningful conversation with even just one person at an event of this nature. On Tuesday I was fortunate enough to have that opportunity; one of my prospects – the one I knew the least of the 3 – was sitting alone eating at a table. I approached him, asked if I could join, and we got to know one another over the course of about 30 minutes. It was fantastic; I was sitting down, in a quieter area of the venue, and got to really understand the passions and interests of an unknown prospect. These kinds of conversations do in fact energize me, and they’re what made me want to do one-on-one fundraising in the first place.

With all of those strategies in place, I was able to have a personally and professionally successful evening.

What are your strategies, for introverts or extroverts???

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Written by Maeve Strathy

Maeve is the Founder of What Gives Philanthropy and has been working in educational fundraising for the past seven years. Click here to learn more about Maeve.

So, in honour of Trinity College School, its alumni, and all of my outstanding colleagues that I’ve had the pleasure to work with and learn from, I wanted to share with my readers what I’ve learned about fundraising at TCS (I’ve boiled it down to five things, but there are actually hundreds).

What I’ve Learned about Fundraising at Trinity College School

Young People Will Give
You know my feelings on young alumni by now – you mustask them to support your school. Why do I feel so passionately about that? Because at TCS I’ve learned that they will give.

Yes, they’re different. They won’t just give because it’s a habit or because it’s expected of them. They’re skeptical; they want to see how you provide value, to them or to your community. They want to know what the impact of their gift will be, and they want to be told that their $25 will make a difference.

So what? They have different needs than other donors. So meet those needs, and ask. Because they willgive.

Major Gifts Take TimeI’ve been fortunate enough to have a small taste of major gift fundraising while at TCS, which is an area of fundraising that I’m really keen to pursue further. My first exposure to major gift solicitations was simply observing, listening to, and learning from my Executive Director. What did I learn? That these gifts take time and that you must be persistent. It’s not just wining, dining, and schmoozing. It’s not just having the confidence and courage to sit across from someone and ask them for $1 million. It’s identifying, cultivating, researching, planning, strategizing, and then asking… and then waiting… following up, asking again… trying from a different angle, and then waiting again… and then following up again, and then – maybe – there’s a “yes”.

This has been a great lesson to learn, because it’s not really the attitude I went into fundraising with. I imagined it being difficult, but not because of the time it takes. This takes special skills that not everyone has, and if I’m to continue in the direction of major gift fundraising, I’m grateful that I learned from the best, and I intend to cultivate and sharpen those skills in myself.

Mobile Giving is TrickyMobile giving a.k.a. text-to-give or text-to-pledge continues to be a hot topic among fundraisers. I had the opportunity to implement a mobile giving program while working at TCS. Our program uses the text-to-pledge method, whereby a donor can text us with their name and the amount of their donation. We receive an email with their name, donation amount, and phone number, and then we can follow up by phone to confirm and process the donation.

The nice thing about this process is that, unlike other programs, no percentage of the donation goes to the service provider and we receive the name of the person making the donation. Normally with mobile giving programs, all you would get is the money, minus the portion that goes to the service provider. That’s why mobile giving works so well for disaster relief. An organization raising money to aid, for example, people after the earthquake in Haiti just needs money! It doesn’t matter who’s giving it, it just matters that the money is coming in, and that it’s coming in fast. That’s another key element to make mobile giving work: urgency. When people sense urgency and a genuine need for money, they’ll respond quickly, and move on with their day.

So mobile giving is great for unique, urgent situations, but will it become an alternative to sending your cheque in the mail? My feeling is no. I don’t think mobile giving is another way of giving as part of a regular Annual Fund. Giving online via your smart phone is one thing, but people still want a connection when they’re making a donation for the most part, so we still want to keep it as personal as possible. My verdict is that mobile giving does not work for the average organization.

Customized Fundraising is the KeyWhat is the future of fundraising??? Customization/Personalization. This is not a new insight, to be sure. People are always more likely to respond to something if they feel it is written to them. When you get a mass email, you feel no remorse in deleting it, but if you feel something has been sent specifically and thoughtfully to you, you may pause and give it more attention.

Fundraisers everywhere are getting really excited about new trends like crowdfunding and mobile giving, and there is certainly some great new technology out there that we can capitalize on, but I think our best bet as fundraisers is using new technologies to complement our existing programs, and take advantages of the ways that technology can assist in a customized and personalized giving experience.

I’m sure you want an example, so here it is: one of the coolest projects I worked on while at TCS was an animated video that we made with an incredible company called Switch Video. The video was intended for all of our alumni and parents, to educate them on two capital projects that are the top priorities of the school’s current capital campaign. There was hope that we would encourage more gifts to the campaign, but the main focus was building awareness of the projects. The video was cool simply because it was animated; a totally different approach from a 150 year-old school that uses traditional marketing for the most part.

That said, the video’s “coolness” went far beyond animation. The video was also customized for 5,500 unique recipients. These recipients would receive a unique email with their name in the subject line, their name in the body of the email, and a unique URL to view the video. Then the video was also customized to include their name (and grad year, if applicable) in different parts of the animation. For example, when called to make a contribution to the campaign, an envelope popped up on the screen with the TCS logo in the return address spot, and the alumnus’ or parent’s name in the centre. Pretty cool, eh? Think of it as a mail merge, but for video.

This is the future of fundraising. We need to focus on using new technologies to assist us in the age-old effective tool when it comes to fundraising: personalization. When we’re looking for a big gift, we wouldn’t send a general letter to someone, would we? We’d meet them in person. So let’s take that idea and apply it elsewhere! I’m glad TCS reinforced this idea for me through this amazing project (and many others).

Alumni Engagement is a Beautiful ThingFinally – alumni engagement. I don’t know where else I’ll work in my career, but in many ways it’s hard to imagine an alumni community more engaged than the alumni I’ve met at Trinity College School. Perhaps it’s the significant tuition they pay that makes them feel more invested in the life of the school. Perhaps it’s the formative years they attend TCS during (ages 15-18, in particular). Perhaps it’s the extremely small community they’re a part of, and that the intimate size is easier to stay engaged with.

Whatever it is, it made working at TCS a total pleasure. There’s a big event that I organize annually; it’s a shinny (hockey) tournament for alumni, parents, and friends of the school. Coincidentally, it takes place tomorrow, and will mark my last day of work at the school. Unfortunately, the event was created to honour the memory of an alumnus of the school who was tragically killed while cycling across Canada. But, the goodwill it creates in the community, and the positive way it honours the memory of this alumnus, is a beautiful thing. With many events, we have to work really hard to get good attendance. With this tournament, I sit back and watch the registrations roll in. People are delighted to drive up to the school for a day of hockey and a dinner at the end of the day. It involves a lot of organization, but not a lot of “work”. It’s a pleasure to be involved with.

There’s also the Alumni Association, a small volunteer group made up of a variety of alumni from different grad years. I’ve gotten quite close to a lot of the members of this group, and seeing their genuine interest in and love for the school makes my work so meaningful. They want to provide value for their fellow alumni, organize events that provide new ways to engage the disengaged, connect alumni together and celebrate the thing they have in common: that they attended Trinity College School. It’s hard not to get excited about their passion. It’s what makes the work I do so… fun!!!

The alumni engagement at TCS is something I will always take with me, and will positively inform the communities I work with in the future. I’m forever grateful.

And with that, I sign off as the TCS Alumni Development Officer! www.whatgivesphilanthropy.com will continue strong, always with the memory of TCS, but with new experiences and projects, too!

Thank you, TCS!

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Written by Maeve Strathy

Maeve is the Founder of What Gives Philanthropy and has been working in educational fundraising for the past seven years. Click here to learn more about Maeve.

I know I’ve talked about compassion/donor fatigue before. We have so many communication channels available to us, and every one of them – from email to Facebook to snail mail – are asking us to give. These weapons of mass communication are powerful, and they’re a positive tool on the one hand, but we have to work that much harder to connect with people when using them. What can we do, say, or design that will catch people’s attention??? Is a video enough?

The best tool I’ve learned to use is personalization. I was working on an event recently – an art auction – and was brainstorming some ways to get more attendees there. I didn’t just want more attendees though, I wanted people to attend who would actually buy the art. So since this was the fifth time the event has taken place, I looked back at records to find out who had bought art in the past, which artist’s art they had bought, and whether the same artist was submitting again this year. If they were, I wrote a personalized email to each of these past buyers, inviting them to the event, letting them know that “their favourite artist” was submitting again, linking them to the event website (specifically to where this artist’s piece was featured), and also letting them know that they could submit an absentee bid if they couldn’t make it.

This process was lengthy and tedious, but it comes with a great ROI. A few of these individuals submitted absentee bids, many of them attended, and at least one purchased another piece by “their favourite artist”. Regardless of the outcome though, this personal touch is a great way to engage members of your community. One person I emailed was impressed we even knew what he’d bought before, and others were simply pleased to have been personally contacted.

This event is simply an example though, and the strategy can be even more effective with fundraising. I’ve worked on custom proposal packages that include archival photos of an alumnus from when he/she was at the school, videos that have the head of the school addressing the major gift prospect who is meant to receive the video… the list goes on, and the result is always positive. Personalized communication resulting in a large gift or a piece of art being purchased is really the cherry on top. No matter what, personally connecting with people is always worth your while.

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Part of this post was inspired by Dan Allenby’s recent blog post, “Content vs. Distribution”, from his amazing website: The Annual Giving Network.

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Written by Maeve Strathy

Maeve is the Founder of What Gives Philanthropy and has been working in educational fundraising for the past 6 years. Click here to learn more about Maeve.

I have to admit that this week I didn’t have the ease of inspiration that I usually do for writing my biweekly Friday posts. Lately I’ve been so busy and have been lucky enough to have some incredible guest bloggers come in with their ideas, so when faced with coming up with one of my own… I uncharacteristically faltered. However, I was saved by the fact that every once in a while I save a draft of a blog post on something while it’s fresh on my mind and figure that I’ll post it sometime in the future. That’s why today I’m writing about an event I participated in back in November 2012 at my alma mater, Wilfrid Laurier University: Career Connections.

Career Connections was a combination of a career fair and a networking event: current university students had the opportunity to visit “exhibit tables” hosted by alumni where they could learn about a specific career they were interested in, or network with alumni in diverse occupations to inspire their own career paths. Students were encouraged to ask questions about the alumnus’ current career, industry, and the path they took to get where they are today. We – the alumni – were invited to share advice we have for students interested in pursuing a career in our field. We were also encouraged to bring information about our organization and any other information that might be helpful for students thinking about a career in our industry.

Firstly, I was delighted to be asked to participate. Being that I work in alumni relations, and organize events somewhat like this one, it’s always fun to be on the other side of the event. Secondly, I was so grateful that – especially at a business-focused school like Laurier – the organizers were making an effort to include careers like fundraising, something that isn’t likely to spring into a 4th year student’s head when they’re thinking of what they’ll do after they graduate. Thirdly, I was excited to have the chance to share the joys of my field with soon-to-be university graduates!!!

When I go to events like this, or networking events in general, my mission is simple: truly connect with a few people. I’m not a mingle and small talk kind of girl; I would much rather invest in deep and meaningful conversation with 2-3 people than leave with 15 business cards of faces I can’t recall. So at Career Connections, I didn’t pressure myself to have a line-up at my table, just a few students who I could have some good conversations with. Thankfully, that’s what I’ve got.

I had three students come to my table and really stop to learn about what it is I do. When asked by a student what I love most about my job, I said that every day is different; one day I could be out in Halifax hosting an alumni event, the next day I could be quietly working on a young alumni solicitation letter, and the next I could be calling a major gift prospect.

One student said that he was interested in education, but not in being a teacher. I said educational fundraising is an amazing way to be involved in education if it’s something you’re passionate about; you might not be on the front lines teaching kids, but you’re actively working to raise funds so that the teachers can do what they do with the best resources available.

On the same vein as every day being different, I spoke to another student about how fundraising engages so many different “muscles” in you; there’s lots of opportunities to build and enhance interpersonal skills, many times I find myself using the critical thinking skills I learned in university to analyze fundraising communications materials, and when it comes to making the ask, it’s a great challenge every time! You have to think hard to align the needs of the institution/organization with the passions and interests of the prospect. It’s tough work, but rewarding, and fun!!!

Career Connections was a great experience, and I hope to have more opportunities in the future to share with others the joys of the field I love: fundraising.

Written by Maeve Strathy

Maeve is the Founder of What Gives Philanthropy and has been working in educational fundraising for the past 6 years. Click here to learn more about Maeve.

Did you consciously decide to embark on a career in fundraising, or did you fall into it? Did you become passionate about a cause and rally behind it, or is it the business of raising funds that drives you? Are you in this for the long haul, or do you have your sights set on something else?

Whatever your path, you’re a fundraiser now. Where do you go from here???

As you may know by now, I’m a young (mid-twenties) professional working in the exciting field of fundraising. My path forward in my career feels very direct now, but fundraising was really something I fell into… at a relatively young age (20), to be sure, but still, it wasn’t something I felt passionate about until I was actually in my first fundraising position. And even then, it took a while to start thinking about it as less of a part-time job and more of a passion. But one day I had that “Aha! moment”, and I haven’t looked back.

I was lucky in my first two fundraising jobs (at the same institution) to get opportunities to immerse myself in the fundraising department there. I began to learn things like the distinctions between Annual Giving and Major Gifts, the meaning and importance of a case for support, the concept of prospect research, and… well, actually I still don’t really know the difference between Advancement and Development…

Early on in my current position (at a new institution) I had the opportunity to attend the CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) Summer Institute in Educational Fund Raising (SIEFR). That was the first time I really felt the energy and passion of fundraisers; not just fundraisers at one institution, but hundreds of fundraisers, from different kinds of institutions, spread across the globe (I met one gentleman from Nigeria!).

These experiences cemented my passion for this field, and so I know I’ll be a lifelong philanthropy-enthusiast. However, I can’t know exactly which direction(s) my career will go in. Right now, all I know is that I’d like to move into a position more focused on major gift solicitations, and that later in my career I’d like to work in fundraising consulting.

What can I do now to make those goals a reality???

Well, I’ll tell you this – it’s not always easy. I have a great job with a great portfolio, the perfect work atmosphere, supportive bosses, and autonomy that makes me feel like I’m really driving the programs that I manage, and that I’m making an impact. However when I started, my portfolio didn’t really involve major gifts. How can I get the experience I want?

Here are three things I’ve learned so far that I think really help me move my career in the direction I want:

Maintain your passion.Remember why you got into this field and/or organization. You’re fundraising, which means you’re selling your cause to donors/prospects, and nothing makes someone open their wallet more than hearing your passion and enthusiasm, which, in turn, gets them excited!And if it’s raising funds that you love (vs. one specific organization), then this skill to get behind a cause and transfer your passion to a donor/prospect is transferable across all sorts of different organizations.

Push your agenda.Figure out what you want from this job. Think big! Just because it’s not on your job description doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Make sure you’re fulfilling the requirements of your job, but is there room for more? For example, if you want to gain experience in major gifts, can you approach your boss and ask if you can join a major gift officer on a call? If so, do it! Gain some experience and insight, and maybe major gifts can become part of your job, too!

Find the fundraising in everything you do.At the end of the day, are you a fundraiser??? Early on in my current position, I felt like I spent way more time on events than on fundraising, and that was probably true, but after growing frustrated I decided to look at it differently. One of the biggest jobs in my portfolio is a huge event that is all-consuming for about a month’s time. Rather than see it as a distraction from my fundraising work, I thought, “Wait a second, it’s a fundraising event! It raises around $8,000 for financial aid. What’s that if not fundraising?” But sometimes it’s much more indirect than that. For example, if you feel swamped with prospect research work, think of it this way: without solid prospect research, development officers can’t do what they do. You may not be making the ask, but you’re still part of the process.

For any of you relatively early on in your careers, I hope my observations resonate with you. I’m still learning, and plan on learning forever, but I’m a fundraiser now, and that’s the important thing.

Written by Maeve Strathy

Maeve is the Founder of What Gives Philanthropy and has been working in educational fundraising for the past 6 years. Click here to learn more about Maeve.

Once again I am excited to have been reached out to – out of the blue – by another passionate individual wanting to spread a message having to do fundraising and philanthropy. Thank you to Lance Trebesch of TicketPrinting.com & Ticket River for sharing this unique idea of the importance of tickets.

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Tickets… sometimes you need them, sometimes you don’t. It depends on the event, doesn’t it? Tickets are practical from a planning standpoint because they allow the organizers to track who is coming in, how many people to expect, etc.

For those, though, that are prone to believe that tickets aren’t a necessary part of your event’s goal, I’d like to remind you of the people that make your event possible – the donors.

A well-designed ticket not only brings a physical tie to your event, but it can also serve as a reminder – a savvy marketing tool – for future events.

People hold on to tickets. I still have all the tickets from the games, shows, theatre events, etc., from when my wife and I first started dating. Our son still has his Super Bowl ticket (and every other sporting event ticket) stored away in a box in his room. I’ve met people that have hung on to tickets from Led Zeppelin or Beatles concerts from the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Tickets are important, not because of their physical value or the function they serve for the organizers, but because of the intrinsic value they hold for the donors. They serve as a place-marker in time for an event that you couldn’t take home with you. If nothing else, the ticket to your event serves as a memory for those that were there, and as something to help them remember the good they did by going.

The same is true for those that attend a fundraiser or charity event. While the event may be memorable (let’s hope that it is), how many times have donors been sent home with a receipt for their donation? It’s impersonal and the chance of an emotional tie is usually absent. And while there may be those that don’t need that reassurance of where they were when they donated, there is always a tie to that event that people would like.

That’s the goal of any fundraiser or charity event, isn’t it? We want the people donating to have an emotional tie to the cause they are donating to (your organization!). We also want them to remember the event, its organizers and the organization itself, as well. That’s where the marketing aspect of the ticket comes into play.

The ticket already serves as a cost-effective, tangible memory for the donor, and when you’ve got a styled ticket, something that catches the eye or does a good job displaying the message of the event, you’ve also got a mini flyer for your organization. This is important because the secondary goal of any fundraiser or charity event, with the first being to get donors, is to have people return to your organization to continue to make future donations. Adding that ticket to an outstanding outreach program helps keep you in your donor’s mind all the time.

So while many may think that tickets hold little value for an event, think of the people holding those tickets. The more they have to bring home with them, the more they will remember where they were and why they were there, which means they will be more likely to come back.

Lance Trebesch is the CEO of TicketPrinting.com & Ticket River which offers a variety of event products and ticketing services. After nineteen years of Silicon Valley experience, Lance found the key to happiness is helping customers worldwide beautify and monetize their events with brilliant print products and event services. Listening to his customers and learning about how they plan their events – ranging from concerts to fundraisers has helped him gain insight and expertise on how to host a successful event that he is always eager to share.

One delightful outcome of starting www.whatgivesphilanthropy.com has been to be contacted by people all over – from Colorado to New York to my hometown of Toronto – with fantastic fundraising-related ideas to share. One such example is below – a post-event release from MJ Pedone at Indra Public Relations in NYC. MJ is the Publicist for the Ann Liguori Foundation, and Ann hosted an exciting event this past weekend. Read more below to be inspired by another great approach to fundraising events!

Southampton, NY – Saturday, July 21, 2012, the 14th Annual Ann Liguori Foundation Dinner Dance at Duck Walk Vineyards, presented by Outback Steakhouse, was another sell-out. The dinner dance benefits the American Cancer Society and Healthy Children, Healthy Futures, teaching young people about good nutrition and exercise for over-all good health benefits. The Ann Liguori Foundation underwrites nutrition education assemblies each year and brings nutritionist/entertainer Jill Jayne to the East End to conduct entertaining and educational assemblies for young people. In addition to Ann Liguori’s renowned sport’s broadcasting career in radio, television and print, Ann founded the Ann Liguori Foundation four years ago to raise money and awareness for cancer prevention and cancer care.

This elegant dinner dance at Duck Walk Vineyards featured a variety of wine, signature cocktails, delicious appetizers and a full buffet, courtesy of Outback Steakhouse. In addition to the array of food offerings, there was live music and a live and silent auction that raised money for the cause.

Written by MJ Padone
Founder & CEO of Indra Public Relations
Click here for MJ’s full bio